Submissions open for short and feature-length screenplays in any genre. All submissions are evaluated on their own merit rather than compared to others in the same genre.

ALL SUBMISSIONS RECEIVE FEEDBACK!

All submissions will receive the first round score card that shows the rating on a scale of 1-10. Submissions are judged on various aspects such as Plot, Characters, Dialogue, etc... You will also get a short note from the evaluation judge.

ALL SUBMISSIONS:
All submitted screenplays will receive the first round score card along with a note given by the initial judge.

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS:
Official Selections are recognized as submissions that have passed the first round of judging. They will receive digital Official Selection laurels.

WINNERS
Winners will receive both digital laurels and physical trophies. (Trophies are mailed to recipients free of charge.)


Please read all of the policies and rules below. Submissions that do not follow these rules will be disqualified, so please ask any questions before submitting.

All completed submissions will receive the initial scorecard with the star-rating score for various aspects and any corresponding short notes at the end of the judging period before winners are announced. These are sent electronically, so please make sure that your email address on FilmFreeway is correct. (NOTE: Any submissions that are withdrawn will not be eligible for scorecard and/or feedback.)

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GENERAL RULES:

In the spirit of fairness for all competitors, we do not offer fee waivers.

All entries must be in English.

Screenplays must be un-produced and not under option at the time of the competition.

Submissions from previous years are accepted, as long as they did not win. Previous winners may enter a different project.

No works-in-progress will be accepted.

All submissions must be original works, no adaptations unless adapted from the film-maker’s own original story/novel or from a work that is the public domain.

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

In the spirit of fairness to all, we do not offer student discounts or hardship waivers for the submission fees.

Only the writer may submit. In the case of multiple writers, only one need to submit but all authors must be credited on the entry. The writer of the screenplay affirms that he/she has all the rights to the story and he/she remains responsible before the law.

Multiple submissions are accepted, but each must be submitted with a separate fee. There are no discounts for multiple submissions.

Submissions are evaluated by a panel of compensated judges and are scored on their own merit. The jury decisions regarding the winners and awards are final and may not be disputed.

All entries must be sent via FilmFreeway. Please DO NOT send files to us directly.

Submission fees must be in U.S. dollars. These fees are non-refundable, even in the case of disqualification or withdrawal of an entry. There are no exceptions to this policy. Submissions that do not follow the rules will be disqualified, so please ask any questions before submitting.

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claim made by you or any third party due to or arising out of project(s) you submit to this contest. You understand that there are thousands of writers and film-makers and the similarities in story, plot, characters, etc... of two or more stories are certainly a possibility. The contest directors and judges will not knowingly share your submission with any third party without your permission.

In the event that less than eight submissions are made to a particular script length category, the categories may be combined into a general pool. This will have no impact on the judging of submissions.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Mary King

    I appreciated the constructive scorecard feedback received from the festival. Great experience.

    November 2025
  • Andrew Montiveo

    Very pleased with my experience, including notes. No complaints from this festival.

    October 2025
  • Great! I'll be submmitting more screenplays in the future.

    March 2025
  • I was delighted to have my first screenplay, VEIL, win an award from this Festival! I've written a number of scripts since then, many of which have won festival awards, but I'm always happy and encouraged to get some recognition for this first effort of mine!

    July 2024
    Response from festival:

    Thank you! Our judges really enjoyed the screenplay, and it is surprising to find out that it was a first effort. Quite well done!

  • What I really appreciate about this festival is that you get a Feedback report card and notes on the film. That’s a pretty cool feature. Although your film doesn’t have a screening per se, I think they do a really nice job of communicating with you and promoting your film on the website. And overall I was really satisfied with the experience. Thank you for selecting Bonding as best Film for spring 2023.

    June 2023